Method and apparatus for promoting desired on-line activities using on-line games

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a computer system and method for promoting on-line activities on desired sites via a virtual entertainment system that provides games, interactions or activities that take place either partially or fully on the partner&#39;s website or within the virtual space associated with the partner&#39;s website. According to one aspect, the invention drives on-line traffic to partner sites using Virtual Collectibles and other prizes rewarded for participation in Internet-based games. The games are designed to promote users to visit and/or perform other activities on the partner sites, and can include giveaways, special offers, treasure hunts, combo puzzles, among many other types of games. According to other aspects, the games can be played by users in the course of, or with very little effort in addition to casually surfing the web.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/567,000, Now U.S. Pat. No. 8,510,413, filed Aug. 3, 2012, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/111,916, filed Apr. 29,2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,239,487, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/940,955, filed May 30, 2007, U.S.Provisional Application Nos. 60/941,250, 60/941,258 and 60/941,261, allfiled May 31, 2007, U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/955,137 and60/955,144, both filed Aug. 10, 2007, U.S. Provisional Application No.60/974,438, filed Sep. 21, 2007, and U.S. Provisional Application No.61/034,451, filed Mar. 6, 2008, the contents of all such applicationsbeing incorporated by reference herein in their entirety

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to computer and network software, and moreparticularly it relates to a system and method for promoting on-lineactivities using Internet-based games with prizes including virtualobjects awarded in connection with predetermined on-line activitiesassociated with the games.

BACKGROUND OF THE RELATED ART

Online traffic is a precious commodity among web advertisers andpromoters. For one, increased net traffic often translates directly intoincreased revenues for websites that engage in the sale of goods andservices. Second, many websites that provide information but do notengage in sales generate their revenues by charging for advertisingspace on their webpages. Examples include search engines and “blog”websites. These websites usually charge advertisers by the number ofclicks on the advertisers' links. For these websites, web traffic has atwo-prong importance. First, a threshold amount of online traffic mustbe achieved before an advertiser will agree to advertise on thatwebsite. Second, once an advertiser has been retained, the amount oftraffic directed to advertiser websites directly translates to how muchadvertisers will pay. Third and finally, for many infant websites thatlargely depend on user-provided content, such as discussion forums orsocial networking tools, it is paramount to achieve a critical mass ofonline traffic in an early stage in order to go forward. At thesewebsites, the more visitors there are, the more attractive the websitebecomes to other visitors. For example, most new auction websites willnot be able to compete successfully against eBay because it is verydifficult to achieve the initial critical mass. Buyers and sellersprefer to visit eBay because it is much easier to find other buyers andsellers there. Thus, how to effectively generate, attract, and retainonline traffic is a challenge faced by many websites owners andadministrators.

Internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo! and other news andinformation web sites attempt to drive traffic to third party web sitesby providing banner ads, ordered search results, and click-throughadvertising. However, the effectiveness of these types of ads inactually generating traffic can be limited. For example, many users donot pay much attention to banner and click-through ads, and quicklyfocus on other displayed content that interests them. Moreover, clickson ads provided by search engines or other websites are often accidentalor fraudulent, and do nothing in themselves to encourage users to spendany time on the associated site.

Meanwhile, some other existing “Get Paid to Surf” products and servicesattempt to drive traffic to specific sites on the Internet by rewardingusers with real-world discounts, frequent flier miles, cash, or others.These products typically operate on an accumulated point system. Oneexample of this type of prior art reward program is U.S. Pat. No.6,749,511, which discloses a website promotional process. It requires auser to visit a host site and then browse through a plurality ofadvertiser or affiliate sites whose hyperlinks are provided at that hostsite to find and match a number of embedded indicia. It further requiresthe indicia to be embedded within the advertiser or affiliate sites thatare promoted by the host site. A prize is rewarded if the participantfinds a sufficient number of matching indicia within a designated timeperiod.

One major disadvantage of these “reward” products is that they lackentertainment value and thus fail to retain user interest, even thoughsometimes they are described as “games.” These “rewards” such as pointsor currency typically have no entertaining features themselves such asvisual art, animation or sounds. Furthermore, they do not provide theusers with any special abilities or powers that could be used in anonline game, and they provide no other decorative or personalizablevalue for the user. Moreover, similar to the on-line advertisingservices described above, they do not effectively reward users foractivities that actually promote and create revenue for the advertisingsites.

Another major disadvantage with these point-based products is that thepoints lack the ability to be associated with brands or advertisers'products. The generic reward units, such as points or miles that a usercollects from different websites, cannot be made different from oneanother. Ten points earned from visiting website A is no different thanten points earned elsewhere. It would be desirable if different rewardscould be configured to possess unique properties associated with acertain name or brand or product. An advertiser or affiliate could thengive to users who visit their websites Virtual Collectibles that possessspecial properties that promote their brands, services or goods.

A further disadvantage, exemplified by the above-identified patent amongothers, is that reward program advertisers or affiliates must, inaddition to paying a fee to the host site, provide support within theirwebsites of content needed to support the accumulation of points andrewards (i.e. indicia such as a JPEG file with a predetermined filenameand located at a URL associated with a sponsor). This is intrusive andburdensome on such organizations. Moreover, participants must allowcookies to be stored on their computers, which not all participants arewilling to do and/or which can be easily disabled or defeated.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,108,459, commonly owned by the present assignee, thecontents of which being incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety, dramatically advanced the state of the art by providing amethod and apparatus for distributing virtual objects such as VirtualCollectibles. According to an aspect of that invention, users canaccumulate Virtual Collectibles in the process of casually surfing theweb. The system detects what site(s) the user is visiting and determineswhether to reward the user with a Virtual Collectible when the userenters or links to a predetermined URL, such as the URL of a partnerwebsite. By entertaining the user in the process of visiting a partnerwebsite, the user is more likely to remember and favorably view thepartner and its products and services.

Although this functionality by itself vastly improves upon conventionalmeans of promoting on-line activities, additional improvements arepossible by further leveraging the discoveries and functionalities ofthe commonly owned patent, including improvements that even furtherovercome the above-described and other disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of computer andnetwork software, and more particularly it relates to a computer systemand method for promoting on-line activities on desired sites via avirtual entertainment system that provides games, interactions oractivities that take place either partially or fully on the partner'swebsite or within the virtual space associated with the partner'swebsite. According to one aspect, the invention drives on-line trafficto partner sites using Virtual Collectibles and other prizes rewardedfor participation in Internet-based games. The games are designed topromote users to visit and/or perform other activities on the partnersites, and can include giveaways, special offers, treasure hunts, combopuzzles, among many other types of games. According to other aspects,the games can be played by users in the course of, or with very littleeffort in addition to casually surfing the web.

According to other aspects, the invention provides on-line advertisersand/or partners having Internet sites with means to configure promotionsthat are tied to the games hosted by the system. According to someadditional aspects of the invention, the system can provide superioron-line advertising revenue opportunities as compared to traditionalbanner ads and click-through advertising through the appeal of VirtualCollectibles. In addition, the present invention allows the system to beconfigured to allow advertiser and partner websites to configure theVirtual Collectibles and other prizes rewarded to users for desiredeffects. In furtherance of these and other aspects, a method andapparatus according to the invention includes a client-server systemwhere the server centrally hosts Internet-based games that users canparticipate in while they casually surf the web. The system furtherselects, maintains and controls the distribution of such virtual objectsand other prizes according to prize criteria, and the client applicationcommunicates with the server to monitor the user's on-line activitiesand provides an interface for the user to interact with the server andother users. The client software monitors on-line activities of theuser, and communicates such activity to the server. The server, based onthe communications from the client, predefined prize criteria,promotions, and other factors, may make decisions as to selecting one ormore virtual objects with special properties, and giving such virtualobjects to the user. The server can further allow recording andreporting of game activities, including those that result in prizesbeing distributed to users. Partners and advertisers may further beallowed to access the system for reports of rewarded activity, and toconfigure prizes to be provided and/or promotions related to the on-linegames hosted by the system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects and features of the present invention willbecome apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review ofthe following description of specific embodiments of the invention inconjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the basic concepts of promotingon-line activities through games with prizes including VirtualCollectibles according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a on-line activity promotions systemaccording to aspects of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of an example implementation of aserver in a on-line activity promotions system according to aspects ofthe invention;

FIGS. 4 to 8 are screenshots illustrating how various types ofpromotions and games made possible according to example embodiments ofthe invention; and

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for promotingon-line activities using on-line games having prizes such as VirtualCollectibles that can be implemented in a system according to aspects ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference tothe drawings, which are provided as illustrative examples of theinvention so as to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention. Notably, the figures and examples below are not meant tolimit the scope of the present invention to a single embodiment, butother embodiments are possible by way of interchange of some or all ofthe described or illustrated elements. Moreover, where certain elementsof the present invention can be partially or fully implemented usingknown components, only those portions of such known components that arenecessary for an understanding of the present invention will bedescribed, and detailed descriptions of other portions of such knowncomponents will be omitted so as not to obscure the invention. In thepresent specification, an embodiment showing a singular component shouldnot be considered limiting; rather, the invention is intended toencompass other embodiments including a plurality of the same component,and vice-versa, unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. Moreover,applicants do not intend for any term in the specification or claims tobe ascribed an uncommon or special meaning unless explicitly set forthas such. Further, the present invention encompasses present and futureknown equivalents to the known components referred to herein by way ofillustration.

As generally shown in FIG. 1, the present invention can be embodied in asystem 100 that drives on-line traffic to sites associated withadvertisers and sponsors 102 by hosting and controlling games 110 thatusers 104 can participate in while casually surfing the web includingsites associated with sponsors 102. System 100 can further reward users104 with virtual collectibles 106 and/or points or currency based ontheir activities and participation in such games. For example, the gamecan be a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt and hints can be providedwithin the game that drive players to one or more specific partnersites. Or special promotions can include placing branded VirtualCollectibles in the game that can be enhanced by visiting a partnersite. Many other types of promotions and games that drive traffic to apartner site are possible, as will become apparent from the descriptionsbelow.

According to other aspects, the present invention leverages and expandson the discoveries and functionalities of the above-mentioned commonlyowned patent. For example, that patent provides an interactive systemthat distributes virtual objects (i.e. Virtual Collectibles) to userswhile they are casually surfing the web. Each Virtual Collectibleconsists of one or more attributes. Attributes may determine the virtualobject's appearance, behavior, value, virtual location, ownership, etc.Virtual Collectibles are virtual objects that are potentially unique.

According to some aspects of the commonly owned patent, VirtualCollectibles are advantageous over traditional points because they canmake the users who own them appear more appealing to other users in arule-based system. This can be achieved in a number of different ways.For example, each user may have an avatar that represents them as theynavigate in the system. Each user may also own other VirtualCollectibles that accessorize the avatar, such as clothing, hats, andfacial features. These Virtual Collectibles may attach to a user'savatar or may be associated with a user's profile, virtual home orvirtual space. Examples include a user collecting vehicles, weapons,medicine, furniture, mini-games, planets, badges, etc. Owning theseVirtual Collectibles can enhance the user's status within the game orsocial network. By collecting highly sought-after Virtual Collectiblesand displaying them for other users to see, a user can obtainrecognition of achievement from the community. Highly decorative or rareVirtual Collectibles not only act as status symbols, but they can alsobe used to personalize the users' avatars, profiles or online virtualspaces. By displaying these Virtual Collectibles or arranging them in aunique combination, users can express and personalize their appearance,as well as decorate their virtual spaces in a pleasing manner.

According to some additional aspects of the commonly owned patent,certain Virtual Collectibles can be made more difficult to obtain (e.g.rarer, harder to find, less frequently available, or more expensive),and therefore some Virtual Collectibles can be effectively moredesirable than others. As a result, the commonly owned patent allowscontrol over the visual appeal and desirability of the VirtualCollectibles not only by thoughtful aesthetic design but also bycontrolling the scarcity of the Virtual Collectibles. Controlling thedesirability of the Virtual Collectibles enables developers to enhancethe entertainment value of the system, as well as enabling partners andsponsors to have a greater control over targeting audiences. Forexample, where a user's online identity is represented by an avatar,these may be customized by other Virtual Collectibles such as clothing,accessories, hairstyles, etc., certain or all of which can be made moreappealing by being more difficult to obtain.

Moreover, according to some further aspects of the commonly ownedpatent, Virtual Collectibles can be branded and carry the logos oridentifying marks of partners and sponsors. By associating VirtualCollectibles with specific marks and brands, the system can heightenuser interest, foster brand recognition and loyalty, and give partnersand sponsors the ability to market their products and services moredirectly. For example, a Virtual Collectible can bear the logo of asponsor, such as a spaceship Virtual Collectible bearing the Ford logo.By making the Virtual Collectible visually appealing and/or difficult toobtain, greater brand recognition and loyalty can be promoted. Moreover,acquiring such a highly appealing Virtual Collectible can be tied to asponsor's goal of promoting its products, such as making it available asa prize to one or more users for viewing a promotional video at adedicated URL in its website.

Generally, the commonly owned patent offers Virtual Collectibles tousers as an incentive to visit partner and sponsor websites. They areoften tied to a specific URL. That is, the user will receive the VirtualCollectible only if she visits that URL. The commonly owned patentrecognizes that since Virtual Collectibles are desired by the users, inorder to drive online traffic to their websites, sponsors may offer astraight award-upon-visit Virtual Collectible to every visitor of acertain web location, or URL.

According to some aspects, the present invention leverages and expandson the Virtual Collectibles distribution techniques of the commonlyowned patent in new and useful ways. For example, in addition oralternatively to automatically awarding certain Virtual Collectibles toevery user who visits a certain URL, further entertainment-basedmechanisms can be added to drive traffic to certain URLs associated withon-line sites or on-line activities of partners or advertisers usingVirtual Collectibles in a game setting.

According to additional aspects, the Internet-based games of the presentinvention can be easily played while users are already casually surfingthe web, and can further make web-surfing itself even more entertaining.For example, the user can be rewarded with a Virtual Collectible whilecasually surfing the web, and then become interested in a game ofacquiring additional Virtual Collectibles that will complete a treasurehunt or combo puzzle. Accordingly, in addition to being entertained byreceiving a Virtual Collectible, the user will be entertained throughthe process of potentially acquiring more.

In addition, the present invention allows the system to be configured toallow advertiser and partner websites to configure games, promotions,and game prizes for desired effects. For example, a company with anon-line presence such as a web site may wish to encourage users to viewa product demo video on its site. It can establish a promotion in whichthe first 100 or 200 users who visit the site and view the demo videowill receive a prize including a Virtual Collectible. Additionalpromotional content may also be added to the system of the invention(e.g. text messages, banner content, etc.) to advise users of theopportunity to receive the prize.

As another example, a partner may configure a game prize to be a VirtualCollectible that is configured as a branded digital object with specialproperties that influence the rules of the system and benefit the user.So Nike may distribute an Air Jordan Virtual Collectible that resemblesa top-selling Nike shoe. This collectible could give the user specialadvantages in the rules-based system, such as a high redemption value(e.g. for real currency, or a coupon redeemable against the purchase ofany Nike products), or double points on days when NBA basketball gamesare played, or making the user's avatar move faster across the screenwhen wearing the Air Jordan Virtual Collectible shoes. In this way,advertisers and partners can customize the look and feel of VirtualCollectibles, as well as their specific properties and benefits.

Configuring the scarcity of Virtual Collectibles distributed to userscan also be used to drive desired online activities. Certain advertisersand partners may offer rare Virtual Collectibles to users who visit orengage in particular activities on their site. For example, the first200 users to register and sign up to receive newsletters at anadvertiser or partner website may be able to pick up an extremely rareVirtual Collectible that has special properties associated with it (e.g.a flying spaceship). The result is being able to promote specific onlineactivities for a specific advertiser or partner based on offering alimited-edition or rare Virtual Collectible.

Thus, by awarding Virtual Collectibles as prizes in an Internet-basedgame that can be played mainly while users are casually surfing the web,adjusting the value of the various Virtual Collectibles within therules-based system, and providing scarcity of certain items, theinvention can influence the flow of traffic and online activities withinthe system to advertiser and partner websites. This flow of traffic andonline activity can then be monetized by the system, where advertisersand partners pay for visitor activities on their websites based ondistribution of Virtual Collectibles and/or advertising within thesystem.

A method and system of driving online traffic and promoting on-lineactivities through distribution of Virtual Collectibles and other prizesin Internet-based games according to certain aspects of the inventionwill now be described in detail beginning with FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, a system 100 according to the invention includesserver 202 that communicates with clients 204-1, 204-2, etc. havingassociated hosts 206-1, 206-2, etc. via Internet 208. In embodiments,server 202 can further communicate with hosts (e.g. 206-3) that do nothave clients. In general operation, server 202 controls games and otheractivities that users with clients 204 can participate in, and aredesigned to drive traffic to websites of partners 230, and furthercontrols the distribution of virtual objects to users based on useractivity communicated by clients 204 relating to their participation insuch games and activities.

Server 202 can be implemented by one or more server computers such asthose available from Sun, HP, BEA, etc. and associated server softwaresuch as that available from Microsoft, BEA, Sun, Linux, Unix, Apache,etc. As shown in FIG. 2, server 202 hosts and maintains a database 210of Virtual Collectibles and database 212 of user accounts. It furtherincludes associated software 220 comprising, for example, operatingsystem(s), web server(s), database server(s), and other server softwarethat have been configured with functionality to be described in detailherein, as well as in the commonly owned patent. According to aspects ofthe invention, software 220 at least includes games system 222 thathosts games that allow users to win Virtual Collectibles, and/or controlattributes thereof, based on game rules 214.

In embodiments, server 202 maintains a list of Virtual Collectiblesbelonging to individual users in user accounts database 212, and/orcredits, points or other real or virtual currency that can be redeemedor exchanged for Virtual Collectibles. It should be noted that server202 can maintain other conventional user account information such asusernames, passwords, contact information, etc., either in database 212or other locally or remotely accessible storages. It should be furthernoted that the depiction of separate storage 210, 212, and 214 forVirtual Collectibles, user accounts, and rules, respectively, isintended to be representative rather than structural, and that manydifferent forms of local, remote, online, offline, permanent andtemporary types of storage are possible, either singly or incombination.

According to certain aspects of the invention to be described in moredetail below, users having clients 204 are rewarded with VirtualCollectibles by server 202 based on the users' participation inInternet-based games which drive on-line traffic to partners 230 (e.g.www.ford.com, www.coke.com, etc.) who each have one or more websitesaccessible by browsers 205. As further shown in FIG. 2, users can alsoaccess other websites in addition to partner websites 230.

Hosts 206 are generally any type of computing device a person can now orin the future use to access the Internet or other public network, andwhich can host at least a client application 204 and Internet accesshardware (not shown) and software such as a browser 205. In an examplewhere host 206 is implemented by a personal computer such as a Mac, PC,notebook or desktop computer, host 206 typically includes an operatingsystem such as Windows or Mac OS, a browser application such as WindowsExplorer or Mozilla Firefox, and network access hardware such as a wiredor wireless modem. Hosts 206 further preferably include graphicaldisplays (e.g. one or more LCD screens) and I/O devices (e.g. keyboard,mouse, keypad, scroll wheels, microphone, speakers, video or stillcamera, etc.) for providing a user interface within the operating systemand communicating with client application 204. Hosts 206 are not limitedto personal computers, but can include cellular phones, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), game systems (e.g. Playstation, Wii, Xbox, etc.) orother devices, and those skilled in the art will understand howimplementation details can be changed based on the particular type ofhost device.

Clients 204 are software applications that reside on the hosts andtypically execute under the host operating system. The client softwareapplication 204 can be either a standalone application, such as a gameinterface that occupies a large portion of the computer screen when inuse, a plug-in that is embedded into another application such as a webbrowser and occupies very little screen space, or other type ofapplication and/or screen configuration. In general operation to bedescribed below in more detail, the client application monitors theuser's on-line behavior, such as the URLs that the user is visiting viabrowser 205. It sends this information over the Internet to the server,which in turn uses it to make decisions as to whether to make one ormore Virtual Collectibles available to the user based on the user'sbehavior.

The client application 204 also preferably provides a graphicalinterface using the display and I/O devices of host 206 by which theuser navigates through, and interacts with other users in, a virtualworld. In embodiments, these interactions and user activities includeparticipation in games hosted and controlled by server 202. As describedin more detail in the commonly owned patent, the user may also initiatean event requiring server attention, such as a trade request, from theinterface. The user may also interact with other users using chat andother conventional and new online communication mechanisms, includingbut not limited to voice and video communications, hosted by server 202and within or without the graphical interface provided by the clientapplication. In embodiments, the graphical interface provides agraphical representation of other users in the form of avatars, and canalso display the Virtual Collectibles that the user or other users own,either alone or together with their respective avatars. The variousattributes of a Virtual Collectible control how it is to be displayed bythe client application 204, thus giving a distinctive look and feel tounique Virtual Collectibles.

In one example implementation shown in FIG. 2, where host 206 is alaptop or desktop personal computer, client application 204 is anActiveX control, browser plug-in, C++ application, Java application,Flash application and/or any combination thereof or a similar technologythat operates with browser 205, and has at least the functionalitydescribed above and in the commonly owned patent, and to be described inmore detail below. Host 206 further includes an optional multimediaplayer 207 such as a Flash Player for use in displaying multimediacontent provided by the invention in a multimedia interface. Thoseskilled in the art will understand how to implement the principles ofthe invention using such conventional mechanisms after being taught bythe below detailed descriptions of the functionality provided by server202 and client 204, as well as the details in the commonly owned patent.

Internet 208 is, for example, the public Internet, but can further oralternatively include any combination of wired and wireless networks,public and private, that are traversed by users who seek access tocontent on the public Internet, as will be appreciated by those skilledin the art. As should be further understood, sites of partners 230 andother sites shown in FIG. 2 are websites that are publicly accessiblevia Internet 208 and the World Wide Web and protocols such as IP andhttp, and are hosted by web servers, servers and databases as understoodby those skilled in the art.

It should be noted that the configuration illustrated in FIG. 2 isintended to be illustrative and not limiting, and those skilled in theart will appreciate various alternative configurations, topologies, etc.For example, while only one server 202 is shown, there may be manyservers 202, either in the same location and/or at the same networkaddress, and/or distributed across many locations and/or networkaddresses. Moreover, server 202, partner 230 sites and other sites, andhosts 206 are typically all remotely located from each other, bothphysically and with respect to different network addresses such as IPaddresses. Many other alternatives are possible, as will become apparentto those skilled in the art.

An example implementation of server 202 is illustrated in further detailin FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, server 202 includes partner port 302,system port 304, activities manager 310, games manager 312 andpromotions manager 314. Some or all of processes 302, 304, 310, 312 and314 communicate with each other over a bus, network (not shown) and/ornetwork protocols and can be partially or fully implemented as webapplications and/or web server applications, as will be understood bythose skilled in the art after being taught about their functionalitiesdescribed in detail herein and in the commonly owned patent. As furthershown in FIG. 3, server 202 can include one or more processes formanaging structured or unstructured data including game promotions 318,game activities 320, game rules 322, virtual collectibles 324 and useraccounts 326. In one example implementation, data 318, 320, 322, 324 and326 are provided in one or more common or separate databases that can beeither internally or externally stored.

In general, system port 304 handles communications with clients 204,typically hosted on devices such as PCs. Server 202 can also include thesame or separate ports for handling communications with clients 204hosted on devices such as cell phones and PDAs. It should be apparentthat these need not be separate processes, but can be provided togetherin alternative embodiments.

In general operation, port 304 operates to communicate with clients 204using structured messaging as defined for the appropriate client type,allowing for interaction with server 202 in order to monitor theassociated users' participation in games managed by manager 312 and/orto award Virtual Collectibles 324 and/or other prizes to such usersaccording to rules 322. In one PC example, clients 204 use http methodssuch as the POST method over TCP/IP and sockets to send informationabout URLs browsed by web browser 205 to server 202 via port 304. Theseand other example implementation details are described in detail in thecommonly owned patent and/or will become apparent to those skilled inthe art based on the following descriptions.

In embodiments, games manager 312 monitors participation of users ingames defined by rules 322 via activities of users as communicated viaclients 204 and system port 304, and further determines how and when toreward users with one or more Virtual Collectibles and/or prizesaccording to rules 322.

According to some aspects, the game system of the invention expands onand leverages the functionalities of the above-mentioned commonly ownedpatent. Expanding on principles and technologies described in thatpatent, rules 322 define games that are designed to encourage andpromote on-line activities on websites of partners 230. For example,rules 322 can list Virtual Collectibles and/or real or virtual currencythat can be obtained as prizes in a particular game, as well as criteriaregarding how the prizes can be won by users.

As described in the commonly owned patent, when a user having a client204 performs on-line activities, client 204 communicates informationrelated to such on-line activities to server 202. In the presentinvention, manager 312 determines whether the activity is associatedwith one of the games listed in rules 322, and if so, manager 312 canfurther determine what prize and/or participation criteria associatedwith the game are established. Manager 312 can further determine whetherthe reported activity qualifies the user to receive the prize VirtualCollectible from store 324, possibly in view of prior reported activitystored in game activities 320, and possibly in addition to other VirtualCollectibles distributed in accordance with the commonly owned patent.

More particularly, the invention allows on-line games, rules and/orprize criteria to be included in rules 322 and/or specified by partners230. The invention further allows users' participation in the games tobe monitored by the system, including manager 312, rather than simplycomparing a URL to a list of URLs, as in the commonly owned patent. Ingeneral, the games and/or rewards criteria are typically related toon-line activities that are deemed to effectively promote the goods andservices of partners 230 while entertaining users who participate inthem.

An example implementation of rules 322 according to the invention isfurther illustrated in the table below.

TABLE 1 # Game Name Prize Prize Criteria URL(s) 1 Ford Ford Be one ofthe first 2000 www.ford.com Mustang space- persons to fill out a surveypage promo ship Mustang survey after completing a maze 2 Treasure RareFollow clues among www.aaa.com, hunt gems several participatingwww.bbb.com, partner websites to fill a www.ccc.com, treasure chest etc.3 Gap Blue Dodge all sticky goo and www.gap.com promo Yeti be one of thefirst 200 “most recent persons to click on a featured “most recentfeatured products” products” page at page www.gap.com . . . . . . . . .. . . N Space pets Three Each pet is separately www.xxx.com, combo petsprovided at several www.yyy.com, and participating websites andwww.zzz.com, 10,000 awarded when the user etc. Rocket visits the URL andfeeds points each pet with the right food, with occasional broadcastclues or other hints provided

As shown in the above examples, the prize criteria can reward users forproviding information to the partner, such as filling out a survey. Asanother example shown above, the prize criteria can reward users forgoing to and/or spending an extended period of time on a partner site,for example by hunting for a “treasure” or “combo” item on a specificpage of a partner site. As a still further example shown above, prizecriteria can reward users for a specific activity, like being one of thefirst users to view a certain page on a partner site. Many otheralternatives of games, prizes and prize criteria are possible. Moreover,it should be noted that the rules 322 such as those described in TABLE 1above need not be completely fixed or unchangeable. For example, theURLs or Virtual Collectibles associated with a “treasure hunt” or“combo” game can be periodically changed for desired effects of drivingin-game traffic to partner sites, and/or in connection with promotions.

As should be further apparent from the above table, and from thedescriptions herein, it is possible for rules 322 to define manydifferent types of games, through which users can be both entertainedand rewarded with Virtual Collectibles based on their participation andon-line activities at or with partner sites, whether or not the userscompletely satisfy the prize criteria. For example, the game may be amaze provided along or within other content on a partner's site that thepartner wishes the user to view or access. Or the game may be a“treasure hunt” that encourages users to follow clues among severalparticipating partner websites to fill a treasure chest. Alternatively,the game may be an “action” type game, such as causing animatedrepresentations of sticky goo to be shot toward the user's avatar whenthe user visits a partner site, and which the user must dodge bymanipulating the position of the avatar within the browser screen. Stillfurther, the game may be one in which a different “pet” is separatelyprovided at several participating websites and the user needs to feedeach pet with the right food in order to win a “combo” of space pets.

Many other types of games are possible in addition to those referred toin the table above, such as those allowing interactions between users.For example, games may include interactive games, such as triviacontests, avatar beauty contests, hide-and-seek games, etc. Moreover,interactive games can include a real estate game, like Monopoly, whereusers actually buy up URLs and resell them. Another example includesusers fighting battles across websites, where specific websites havespecial properties, such as providing weapons or defense, making themmore valuable, and driving users to visit them. Those skilled in the artwill recognize many other alternatives after being taught by theseexamples, and will understand that the invention includes them, amongothers.

It should be apparent that the system can include various mechanisms fordetermining whether user activity meets the prize criteria specified inrules 322, examples of which are described below.

In one example of a give-away game, games manager 312 receives a URLfrom client 204 via port 304 and simply determines whether it matchesone or more URLs in one of the stored games in rules 322. If so, manager312 determines that the listed prize should be rewarded to the user. Itshould be noted that give-away games need not be completely free to theusers. For example, points and/or virtual currency may be specified inthe prize criteria to be exchanged for a special Virtual Collectible. Inthis case, manager 312 can further access the user's account todetermine whether they have sufficient credits to cover the exchange.Users may also need to complete specific game tasks before the prizesare awarded, such as destroying enemy ships hiding in wait at partnerwebsites, and these criteria can obtained from game activities 320.

In an example of a promotion tied to a specific product of a partner230, a game may give a prize to one or more users who are the first toview a product promotional video having an associated specific URL on apartner site. In this example, when the URL is entered or activated bythe user (e.g. a button click on a web page associated with a website ofpartner 230) and reported by client 204 via port 304, manager 312compares the URL to URLs in stored games in rules 322. If there is amatch, manager 312 further retrieves prize criteria for the game, forexample, a number stipulating the number of users who are the first toview the video. Manager 312 can then compare the stipulated number inrules 322 with the number of users who have already viewed the video,stored in activities 320. If the number recorded in activities 320 isless than the stipulated number, manager 312 determines that theassociated prize can be rewarded, and can further update the numberstored in activities 320.

In another example, games manager 312 can include functionality fortracking the number of items collected for a “combo,” or a “treasurehunt”. For example, manager 312 can keep a record of whenever a userobtains any items in a combo or treasure hunt game in activities 320.Rewards manager 312 can then use this information and compare it to thecriteria established in rules 322 to determine whether the prizecriteria have been met, for example when the user has obtained all theitems in a combo or treasure hunt game.

Those skilled in the art will be able to understand how to implement thevarious mechanisms to be incorporated into games manager 312 and/orclient 204 for tracking on-line behavior and/or determining whether suchbehavior meets or matches prize criteria after being taught by thepresent specification and the details of the commonly owned patent.

Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that not all gameshosted by the system and defined in rules 322 need to have associatedprizes and/or rewards. As such, the game itself can be considered anaward or a distribution of a Virtual Collectible to the user, albeittemporary, and not necessarily permanently assigned to the user'saccount, as in the commonly owned patent.

As further shown in FIG. 3, and described in the commonly owned patent,when games manager 312 determines that a user's on-line behavior meetsor exceeds prize criteria in rules 322, an associated VirtualCollectible 324 or other prize can be made available to the user. If theuser accepts and/or acknowledges the prize, games manager 312 can updatethe user's account in database 326 to associate the Virtual Collectible,points and/or real or virtual currency with the user.

According to additional aspects of the invention and as shown in FIG. 3,when a prize award or other game-related activity has been detected,games manager 312 can further record information regarding the activityin database 320. For example, database 320 can store details regardingthe number and type of Virtual Collectibles distributed to users, and/ordetails regarding the activity, such as the time spent on the site, userbrowsing patterns, user profiles, user interests, time of day, date, anddemographic information, like age, sex and zip code, regarding the userthat received the reward as well as statistic details of what triggeredeach reward.

As further shown in FIG. 3, server 202 in this example implementation ofthe invention includes partner port 302, activities manager 310 andpromotions manager 314.

Partner port 302 can provide a web-based or network interface forpartners to access server 202, and for example certain of thefunctionalities of activities manager 310 and/or promotions manager 314,to be described in more detail below. Port 302 can provideauthentication mechanisms for securely accessing server 202 and/ormanager 310. Although shown separately, it should be apparent that ports302 and 304 can be implemented partially or fully together.

In general, activities manager 310 allows configuration of, and reportsabout, the activities and Virtual Collectibles and/or other prizesassociated with games hosted by the system of the invention. Forexample, manager 310 can access, store or configure Virtual Collectiblesin database 324. Manager 310 can also access, store or configure rulesin database 322, including activities defined by prize criteria asdescribed above, and associate Virtual Collectibles, points and/or realor virtual currency to be associated with game prizes. Manager 310 canalso access partner activities 320, for example to receive reports ofrewarded activity.

Activities manager 310 can further enable implementation of anadditional number of system monetization features of the presentinvention. For example, the reports of activities recorded in database320 and reported by manager 310 can be used to charge partners 230 forthe online activities promoted and recorded by the system. In thisregard, pricing for advertisers and partners can be set in various ways.For example, a fixed price can be set for the number of prizes of acertain Virtual Collectible, or the price per prize of the certainVirtual Collectible may be set through a bidding process by advertisersand partners. Or advertisers and partners can pay for the number ofvisitors that perform a certain online activity rewarded by the system.For example, Ford Motors may pay 2 cents for each visitor who views itsMustang demo video on its Mustang web page. Advertisers may also pay forthe time a user spends on the site. For example, the advertiser may pay1 cent per minute spent on the site, and the system may continue toreward users with more Virtual Collectibles the longer the user stays onthe site. Other methods include rewarding users for answering questionscorrectly about a product or service. Here the advertiser may pay 10cents for each correct answer a user gives, while the system rewards theuser with Virtual Collectibles for every correct answer. Lastly, thesystem may overlay games on top of the site, which users participate inand are rewarded according to their performance. There are various otherways game activities associated with partner sites by the system can bemonetized by the system, such as charging a flat fee for any number ofrewarded Virtual Collectibles, charging for Virtual Collectiblesrewarded during a specific time period, and charging advertisers andpartners to customize Virtual Collectibles that are rewarded by thesystem for activities on their sites

In general, promotions manager 314 allows access to, and configurationof promotions, hints, and other content associated with games hosted bythe system of the invention in promotions database 318. Moreover,manager 314 can access or store information about games in rules 322.For example, games configured in rules 322 can be associated with aparticular promotion stored in promotions database 318. The contents ofdatabase 318 is not limited to text, but can include graphical objectssimilar to or including Virtual Collectibles and/or other web pagecontent such as controls, graphics and text.

Partner access to activities manager 310 and/or promotions manager 314via port 302 can be provided using well-known web server techniques andweb pages and controls, such as Flash, HTML, XML, CGI scripts, Active X,C++, Java, Javascript, and the like. Controls to configure games, prizesand promotions using activities manager 310 and/or promotions manager314 can further include drop-down lists, text boxes, radio buttons,etc., that are well known to those skilled in the art. Those skilled inthe art will be able to understand how to implement such interfaces andcontrols after being taught by the present disclosure. It should befurther noted that in addition or alternatively to providing port 302for partners, that some or all of the functionality to access, store orconfigure Virtual Collectibles in database 324, to access, store orconfigure rules and/or prize criteria and associated VirtualCollectibles in database 322, to access or generate reports from partneractivities 320, and to access, store or configure promotions in database318 can be done manually or through an administrator or other interface.

Certain aspects of games configured and/or accessed by activitiesmanager 310, and promotions configured and/or accessed by manager 314,will be described further in connection with FIGS. 4 to 8. In general,FIGS. 4 to 8 are screenshots illustrating web page and other contentserved and displayed by server 202 based upon specific selections byusers using clients 204, as described in more detail hereinbelow and inthe commonly owned patent. Details necessary for an understanding of thepresent invention will be provided below, while other details providedin the commonly owned patent will be omitted for clarity of theinvention.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, promotion manager 314 can cause a gameto be announced on a splash page 402 or introduction page when a newmember joins the system, or in popup dialogue box appearing on top ofany websites, or in other pre-determined situations. In the example gameshown in FIG. 4, the game is to collect all three pets in a “Space PetsCombo”. These pets are each Virtual Collectibles which can be stored indatabase 324. An additional prize of “Rocket Dollars,” which can bevirtual currency or points and/or can be exchanged for real currency orcredits, is rewarded for collecting all three pets in the combo.According to aspects of the invention, each of the Virtual Collectiblesin the “Space Pets Combo” are associated with specific URLs of websitesand/or web pages of partners 230, as configured in game rules 322. Itshould be noted, that these URLs need not be fixed for all time. Rather,they can be periodically changed and/or rotated among different URLs ofpartners 230. For example, in one month, the three Virtual Collectibles404 of the “Space Pets Combo” can be associated with the home pages forwww.gap.com, www.ford.com and www.coke.com, thereby driving in-gametraffic to those partner sites. In a next month, the same VirtualCollectibles can be associated with the home pages for www.amazon.com,www.yahoo.com and www.nike.com, thereby driving in-game traffic to thosepartner sites. Accordingly, as users access these home pages as theycasually surf the web as usual, they will collect the VirtualCollectibles and when they collect all three, the system will rewardthem with the prize.

Promotion manager 314 can further cause users to be provided hints orother information regarding their progress in games, and to furtherdrive in-game traffic to partner sites. For example, as shown in FIG. 5,in a screen showing all of the user's Virtual Collectibles, the systemcan display Virtual Collectibles in connection with a combo game, suchas the “Space Pets Combo” described in connection with FIG. 4, in adedicated pane 502. In this example, additional “Space Pets” VirtualCollectibles that have been collected by the user are also shown in pane502, even though they are not part of the combo (e.g. the “Brown Yeti”space pet). These additional Virtual Collectibles can be indicated withdifferent colors and/or typefaces, etc., to show that they are not partof the combo. Moreover, Virtual Collectibles that are part of a combogame, but which have not yet been collected, can also be displayed inpane 502 (e.g. the “Space Canary” space pet), but further indicated withdifferent colors and/or typefaces, etc. to show that they have not yetbeen collected. As further shown in FIG. 5, the pane 502 can furtherinclude a “Hint” button. When selected by a user, hints can be providedfor finding any uncollected Virtual Collectibles in a combo, therebyhelping to drive in-game traffic to partner sites.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example of how games and promotions can beconducted in accordance with aspects of the invention. In this example,a separate news screen can be provided that lists news about variousactivities hosted by the system, which can include news about promotionsand games managed by managers 310, 312 and 314. For example, as shown inFIG. 6, a treasure hunt game and/or treasure hunt hints can be providedin a banner pane 602. This content can be actionable, wherein a user canbe provided with additional information about the games and/or hints byclicking on the content. As further shown in FIG. 6, individual newsitems can be provided in a scrollable window 604. These news items caninclude information items 606 about games and promotions managed bymanagers 310, 312 and 314. By clicking on these individual items, userscan be provided further information about the promotions and games, suchas details about giveaways, and hints for how to find combos or treasurehunt items, for example.

FIG. 7 illustrates further promotional activities that can be providedby the invention. In this example, a splash page or screen 702 providesinformation about how promotion manager 314 can configure brandedVirtual Collectibles (e.g. a Ford branded space ship in this example)that are awarded in connection with a specific promotional give-away(e.g. following a link to a specific URL on a partner site in thisexample). It should be noted that, in this example, the splash screen isdisplayed by server 202 when a user enters the system, or in transitionbetween pages displayed by the system. However, this example is notlimiting. Moreover, in one example, promotion manager 314 can causevarious different promotions stored in database 318 to be displayed onsplash screens at various times, so as to drive traffic to variouspartner sites.

FIG. 8 is a screenshot illustrating a game that can be played accordingto aspects of the invention. As shown, the game in this example allowsusers who are visiting a partner site to toss a ball between eachother's avatars 802. The users may further chat with each other, andtheir chat messages can be shown in boxes 804 adjacent to theirrespective avatars 802, as described in more detail in the commonlyowned patent. In this example of an on-line game hosted by theinvention, control of the ball is initially controlled by the system,visually represented for example by an avatar 808, which can beautomatically generated by the system or controlled by personnelassociated with the system or partner sites 230. As further shown inthis example, in order to participate in the game (i.e. being able tocatch and throw a ball), the user must score a point, which can berelated to some on-line activity at the partner site 230, such asfilling out a survey or watching a promotional video. The system canmonitor the user's on-line activity, and when the required activity hasbeen performed, the user can further participate in the on-line game(i.e. being able to catch and throw a ball, for example by manipulatingthe avatar's movements and actions). According to further aspects of theinvention, the user's activity and game participation can be furthertracked and rewarded with a Virtual Collectible, as illustrated in FIG.8 with message 810.

As further shown, in some embodiments, a navigation bar 806 may also bedisplayed in which chat messages can be entered and other systemcontrols manipulated, some of which are described in the commonly ownedpatent.

As set forth above, the invention contemplates different ways thecontent shown in FIG. 8 can be displayed. In one example, the content ofthe invention provided by server 202 and received by client 204 overlaysother content associated with the website of partners 230 which isnormally displayed by a web browser 205 in the conventional manner. Inanother example, the content is provided within a virtual worldassociated with the website of partner 230, with the virtual worldcontent completely filling the screen or window of the web browserapplication. It should be apparent that many other alternatives arepossible.

Returning to FIG. 3, and as described in more detail in the commonlyowned patent, Virtual Collectibles are stored in database 324 aspointers to one or more objects that may contain animations, sound,graphics and specific functionality within a game or rules-based system.Virtual Collectibles can be as simple as graphics files. For example, aVirtual Collectible could be a .GIF, .JPG, .BMP or .PNG filecorresponding to a static image when rendered on a host computer.Virtual Collectibles can further or alternatively include an animationfile, such as an animated .GIF file or a Flash animation. VirtualCollectibles can also further or alternatively include any sort of mediafile, including any type of audio or movie file, such as MP3, .AVI,.SWF, .MPG, WMV, .WAV, etc. In such cases, content associated withVirtual Collectibles can typically be downloaded or streamed to usersvia port 304 and clients 204 via conventional protocols such as http andrendered on hosts using conventional browser functionality and/orfunctionality in optional multimedia players such as Flash.

In the present invention, certain game objects (e.g. puzzles, mazes,animations such as weapons or other objects targeted at a user's avatar,etc.) are also stored and maintained in database 324 in much the samemanner as Virtual Collectibles and in some respects can be consideredVirtual Collectibles themselves. Pointers to these objects can be storedrules 322 and used by manager 312 to control user interactions andexperiences within games hosted by the system through port 304. Thoseskilled in the art will recognize how to implement the games andactivities according to the principles of the invention after beingtaught by the above examples, and the teachings of the commonly ownedpatent.

It should be noted that server 202 preferably includes an administratorinterface (not shown) and associated functionality to manage variousaspects and operations of the system. For example, server 202 can allowan administrator to upload and change Virtual Collectibles, theirattributes, configure game rules and promotions, and game prizes. Server202 can further allow an administrator to change and configure web pagesand other content served by the http server.

It should be further noted that in alternative embodiments server 202need not include all the components and functionality shown in FIG. 3,or can include other server and/or network components and functionalitynot shown in FIG. 3, such as load balancers, firewalls, switches,gateways, etc. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatserver 202 and/or certain or all of the components shown in FIG. 3 canbe implemented by several different computers, either locally orremotely located, and communicating with each other via a bus, network,etc. It should be still further noted that server 202 can includefunctionality described in the above-mentioned commonly owned patent andin co-pending application Ser. No. 12/106,925, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference, to the extent not detailed herein.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example process that can be implementedby server 202 to drive on-line traffic to partner sites usingInternet-based games according to the invention.

As shown in FIG. 9, in step S902, a partner 230 having an on-linepresence such as a web site is desirous of driving a particular type ofon-line traffic to its site. The traffic can be general, such as viewinga home page of the site, or it can be highly particularized, such asviewing a demo video or filling out a registration form. The partnerspecifies this activity, and can further specify any promotionalcriteria, such as the prize to be offered (e.g. a Virtual Collectible,or a special attribute associated with a Virtual Collectible), a timewindow, or a limited number available, etc. as described above.

Then in step S904, this desired on-line activity is added to, or used tostart, an on-line game hosted by the system of the invention. Forexample, if the promotion specifies that “Cosmic Sneakers” will be givenaway to the first 100 visitors on www.nike.com, the system will define agive-away game having similar criteria in rules 322. The system canfurther add promotional content to be served to users of the system toeither explicitly or implicitly inform them of the give-away game.Various other alternatives are possible, depending on the promotionand/or game, including treasure hunts and combo puzzles, andimplementation details thereof will become apparent to those skilled inthe art after being taught by the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 9, in step S906 users having clients 204 surf the webas usual. In step S908, in accordance with predetermined events, such aswhen a user visits a new URL, the client 204 notes this activity andtransmits this information to the server 202. For example, client 204can monitor whenever a new URL is typed into browser 205, or when a linkto a URL having a different domain name than the current page isclicked. The client 204 may also maintain a memory of the last known URLvisited and use that to compare to the new URL. The new URL istransmitted by client 204, along with other information such as theuser's identity, to port 304 using http methods and TCP sockets, forexample. It should be appreciated that this communication can take placewithout the user's awareness.

In step S910, manager 312 of server 202 determines whether the reportedactivity is related to one of the games defined in rules 322. Forexample, manager 312 first compares the URL against URLs listed forgames in store 322 to look for a match. If there is a match, processingadvances to step S912 where the manager 312 records the activity indatabase 320. Manager 312 can then provide content to the userassociated with the game matching the URL of the website from store 324and via port 304. Depending on the matching game, examples of which areprovided above, this content can include simple text and graphics (e.g.an object that the user can click on) to puzzles, animated interactionsof the user's avatar with objects (e.g. sticky goo, weapons fired at theavatar, etc.) and/or with other users' avatars on screen. As furthermentioned above, the game content can be embedded within content on thewebsite, it can be overlaid on top of normal website content, or it canbe provided within a virtual space associated with the website.

Next, in step S914, manager 312 reviews the prize criteria in thematching rule to determine what, if any, prizes should be rewarded. Asset forth above, the prize criteria can include a variety of parametersthat are related to on-line activities that the game manager 312 and/orclient 204 can monitor. In some games, manager 312 can further retrieverecorded activities in store 320 and/or consult the user's own accountinformation in store 326 to determine whether the prize criteria aremet.

If manager 312 in step S914 determines that the criteria for theassociated game indicate that a prize including a Virtual Collectibleshould be awarded to the user, processing advances to step S916.

In step S916, manager 312 retrieves information regarding the associatedVirtual Collectible from store 324, and further associates thisinformation in the account for the user in store 326. For example, wherethe Virtual Collectible is stored as an object in database 324, manager312 can add a pointer or object ID index to a list of VirtualCollectibles in the user's account information in database 326.

Server 202 (e.g. through port 304) then communicates with client 204 topresent the user with the Virtual Collectible and/or the option toaccept or reject it. For example, server 202 can send data, text and/ormultimedia content to client 204 and client 204 can correspondinglypresent a message on the host device's output component, such as acomputer screen or a cell phone screen, or provide another indicator(e.g. a tone or buzz) indicating that a new Virtual Collectible isavailable for the user. Note that in some embodiments, the user need notimmediately view the Virtual Collectible, although the user can have theoption to view the Virtual Collectible by setting the user's preferencesaccordingly. If a user so chooses, the user can automatically view theVirtual Collectible upon receipt, or in response to a user selectionsuch as a mouse click, etc. The actual processes and mechanisms that areused to enable a user to view and or perceive the Virtual Collectibleawarded to the user are described in more detail in the commonly ownedpatent.

In step S916, server 202 further preferably records the activity leadingto the award in store 320. For example, manager 312 can identify andstore details regarding the user's game activities in store 320. Manager312 can further identify and store the number and type of VirtualCollectibles distributed to users for each partner and/or URL, and/ordetails regarding activities that resulted in each reward, such as thetime spent on the site, user browsing patterns, user profiles, userinterests, time of day, date, and demographic information, like age, sexand zip code, regarding the user that received the reward.

It should be noted that the games of the present invention can beincluded in a system described in the commonly owned patent, whereinVirtual Collectibles can be rewarded to users automatically, withoutregard to any prize criteria. Accordingly, even when detected on-lineactivity in step S808 is not related to a game defined in rules 322,additional or alternative processing can be performed to determinewhether a Virtual Collectible can be distributed to the user.

It should be apparent that the invention thus can effectively drivetraffic and promote on-line activities to partners who advertise andpromote their goods and services via the Internet. Meanwhile, inaddition to allowing users to be entertained by receiving a VirtualCollectible merely by surfing the web at their own leisure, thecompanies associated with the online activities performed by the user,and for which the user was rewarded with a Virtual Collectible, can bepositively remembered by the user. Still further, based on theexperience of receiving a Virtual Collectible at the company's web site,the user may be more inclined to (a) visit the company's web site often,and (b) purchase goods or services from the company.

The example implementations described above should be consideredillustrative rather than limiting, and many combinations, divisions,deletions, alterations and supplementations even within the abovedescribed implementations are possible, as should become apparent tothose skilled in the art.

Although the present invention has been particularly described withreference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it should be readilyapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that changes andmodifications in the form and details may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended that the appendedclaims encompass such changes and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising the followingcomputer-implemented steps: providing, by one or more computers, anon-line virtual world that is accessible to users having respective webbrowsers via the Internet; allowing a first one of the users toconfigure an avatar that the user can control via the user's respectiveweb browser to interact with other content in the on-line virtual world;establishing a game that is playable in the on-line virtual world, thegame having associated game content in the on-line virtual world, anassociated prize and associated prize reward criteria; configuring ararity of the prize, the rarity defining additional criteria forlimiting a number of the prize that can be rewarded; receiving, from theuser's respective web browser, information regarding the user'sparticipation in the game, the participation including the user'scontrol of the avatar's interaction with the associated game content;determining from the information whether the user has satisfied theassociated prize reward criteria; further determining from theinformation whether the user satisfies the additional criteria;rewarding the user with the prize only if the user has satisfied boththe associated prize reward criteria and the additional criteria.
 2. Amethod according to claim 1, wherein in a first configuration of thegame the method further comprises: causing the game content to beembedded together with the separate content displayed by the web browserapplication.
 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein in a secondconfirmation of the game the method further comprises: causing the gamecontent to be displayed in a full screen provided by the web browserapplication.
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the prizeincludes a virtual collectible for accessorizing the avatar.
 5. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the host comprises a cellular phone.
 6. Amethod according to claim 1, wherein the additional criteria includes afixed quantity of the prize.
 7. A method according to claim 1, whereinthe additional criteria includes a required combination of the prizewith other virtual collectibles possessed by the user.
 8. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the game content includes content thatallows the first user to control interactions with an avatar with asecond one of the users.